New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-02-27
A MEDLEY OF MEMOIRS.
pr,,1N,scENcEs OF socIETy-THE sIAGE-
ARR LJFE--JOURNALlSM.

~ re,uo M, l2I HouShtOh MINI" " w.
SOUVENIRS OF NY aa T.ME , Sy Saslt CO. '
,,,rnospro.r,oys OF AMERICA. 1897 1911 BY
IouS BrRS ,RD Edited from the Manuscript py S ~
Bayle Bernard asr wIe an HrTns and BRsSpEH MAT
THpws 12mo. PIP. XIV. $780, Harper q bro'nrA
sKErcaEs AND IMPRESSIONS FROM TIE IA Af y ds.
DINNER TALK OF uHo" ,Sm 800 M. x, 29l G. p
Putnams sons
THOUGHTS on ART AND AUT0Bi0GRTArPpnmsiiesiMedd
MEMOIRS OF GIoyAN,ENi DufF Nth an Intro
duction Ivy W. W. STORY. CrOwnsvo' PIP io'
Roberts Brothers. - NJ
"REMINISCENCES OF A COUNTRY Jou nsiShan a vel
T iorG. FROST ''' ~ w.
Cbarce throws tocether on our '''io ~,
yo,umes Of personal Renaissance, dlhe'H's 80"
from one another in character anu s'si.' .i
.ni,,i,in,, the charm which belongs to the iraih
ractaI Of personal experiences. Mrs' Sn''
little book about old Salem is The mosC e"e" ~,
If the collection, though others suipass " NJ Wv
Intrinsic value OF their subjects. fern"p' nv
nover was small town so rich as Salem In mem
ns;os - tbat fascinating bordcr-period of Old
times. which is far enough away to be quaint, yen
mar enourb to be dear and familiar. since
hawthorne first woke the I'll SITS OF the decaSeo
sea-nort il has ieen the fashion to recall images
NJ its lost eentilty and to throw open the iohS-
closed doors of once stately houses, with the
curiosity # young folks exploring an ancestral
garret. The a~ed lady who gives us this iaoes'
retrospect is kindly, placid, cheeriul ana ssnp"
thetic friend, ia king in an easy stialn' as II VIC
sat with her at decorously ordered teataoe'
furnished with silver candlestcks and Ola oiue-
and-whitc china. She tells us OF the anc1ent nl'r-
chants and sea-captains. who were once n'ie"'N
in the India trade and whose names In SOME e,''o
have gone on gathering honor to the present. u"y'
Of n
,ri,n and provincial yet well-mannered and ele-
can't She describes the entertainments, the tash-
ions the queer shops the DANES schools, the &C.
centric people tine vagrant-minded parson VINO
requested the choir to "sng a chapter OF M"'-
thew, and prayed THAT vacant young ministers
MIGHT be supplied with parishes, ana 'he anu
ouat ed heavy -dozing doctor under whose NlsIua-
tons the of physic Nlals grew 10 ihlSh'N
length. She writes of the famous yacht built 40
Salem in 1917 for the retired shpmister anu
privateer Mr. George Crowninshied. The yacht
uos q snlendid brig whose fifth S foreshadowed
the llxllries of our own time, and the owner was
n fine tyre Of the old Observation-Disclosures: put
Mr. C,owninsheld seems to have been deficient
in the sense Of humor for he proposed To call MS
vessel Concordias Car This astonishing name
was committed 10 Cleopatras Barge ana uhuer
that designation-surely bad enough--the VesSe'
made n triumphal cruise to the Mediterranean.
where royal pers nages hocked to survey her
~with hadmiration amounting 10 have" MIS-
Silsbee's recoectiOns are always pleasant; her
personal jud .ments are genial; and her DOCK Is
delightful MT only for its VIVID representations
of a picturesque past. but for Its sustained ana
higlbred gentleness.
Mrs. Fremont's book is written principally Tor
girls, and she has filed it with the sort of hight
talk in which budding misses are supposed 10
feel O particular interest. Fashions, robes Don
nets, laces dinners, weddings, receptions the
social and ceremonial aspects of public me- are
described with o vivacity which o'erleals the Cd
structions Of grammar. No matter; f'ur reaoeI~
will find the pace eXhilaratlng, ana VIII under-
stand their lively friend even though Verp may
now and then be forgotten. Mrs. Fremont be-lnS
with a minute and extremely entertaining ac-
count Of the famous wedding of the Russian Min
lister, old Mr. Bodisco, with beautiful young Miss
Williams of Georget own. an event which was one
Of the great sensations of Mr. Van Burens reign.
Our author one of the bridesmaids' ana she
describes the elaborate cel emonles with no h'Iie
force and humor she gives the names OF the
bridesmaids and groomsmen; She tells now lheS
were placed and what the ladies wore she men
lions the distincushed PEOPLE in attendance; nut
by an odd oversight she never names the prlde'
pnly describing her as the daughter Of poor
TX.
has many things to say of official etiquette and
the mysteries Of precedence and she tells how.
when Edward Livingston Attorney -General.
his beautiful creole wife resented the regulation
which placed her after al the other Cabinet
ladies' She was willing to give the pas TO
Madame the Minister Of State, to Madame of War
to Madame of the Navy; but to walk In to
dinner behind Madame rOze Ofeese-jamais
There are interesting sketches OF Mrs. Madison ID
her old age and Of Mrs. Alexander Hamilton
There are pictures of sumptuous plantation life In
Virsinia and pleasant recollcctions OF the Benton
household in Washington and st. Louis. Adven-
f,rcs I'm California and on the Isthmus are not
1aclSing and q large part Of the volume Is devoted
TO Europcan "reminiscences, in which royal and
fllustrious personages figure largely. Upon The
whole the cheerful and desultOry pages leave
an agreeable impression, as the records OF an
INTELLIGENT woman who has seen much of the
world, looked at it with bright eyes, and made
friends wherever she has travelled
John Bernard was one Of that brilliant genera
ton Of actors who ilustat the beginnnc Of the
American stage, coming to this country near the
close of the eighteenth century and remaining here
twenty years, popular and respected. The con-
ditions Of the drama in that primitive era were
extremely unfavorable. Life was still too hard.
In the young and impoverished country, for the
development Of a genuine popular taste for The
STAGE puritanic dread Of theatrical shows was still
strong in many important towns; sometimes Tho
forbidden delght was disguised as "Ilistrionic
Academy" In which the company proposed TO
deliver dissertations on subjects instructive
and entertaining; and in a playbn preserved
by Mr. Bernard a performance Of "Othelo' at
Newport is announced as "a Series Of Moral Da-
logues In Five Parts. depicting the Evfl Effects
Of Jealousy and other Bad Passions, and proving
that Happiness can only spring from the pursuit
of Virtue" There a class Of highly Guilt
waited diettanti, to whom the drama was q pas
sion and the player favorte companion. but
this class was small. and the towns in which i,
could be looked for we're few and far apart The